Transport in Italy

Italy has a well developed transport infrastructure.
The Italian rail network is extensive, especially in the north, and it includes a high-speed rail network that joins the major cities of Italy from Naples through northern cities such as Milan and Turin.
Italy has 2,507 people and 12.46 km2 per kilometer of rail track, giving Italy the world's 13th largest rail network.[1]

Italy's road network is also widespread, with a total length of about 487,700 km.[2]
It comprises both an extensive motorwaynetwork (6,400 km), mostly toll roads, and national and local roads.

Because of its long seacoast, Italy also has a large number of harbors for the transportation of both goods and passengers.
Transport networks in Italy are integrated into the Trans-European Transport Networks.

Railways

The Italian railway system has a length of 19,394 km (12,051 mi), of which 18,071 km (11,229 mi) standard gauge and 11,322 km (7,035 mi) electrified. The active lines are 16,723 km.[3] The network is recently growing with the construction of the new high-speed rail network.
The narrow gauge tracks are:

A major part of the Italian rail network is managed and operated by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, a state owned company. Other regional agencies, mostly owned by public entities such as regional governments, operate on the Italian network. The Italian railways are subsidised by the government, receiving €8.1 billion in 2009.[4]

Travellers who often make use of the railway during their stay in Italy might use Rail Passes, such as the European Inter-Rail or Italy's national and regional passes. These rail passes allow travellers the freedom to use regional trains during the validity period, but all high-speed and intercity trains require a 10-euro reservation fee. Regional passes, such as "Io viaggio ovunque Lombardia", offer one-day, multiple-day and monthly period of validity. There are also saver passes for adults, who travel as a group, with savings up to 20%. Foreign travellers should purchase these passes in advance, so that the passes could be delivered by post prior to the trip. When using the rail passes, the date of travel needs to be filled in before boarding the trains.[5]

High speed trains

Major works to increase the commercial speed of the trains already started in 1967: the Rome-Florence "super-direct" line was built for trains up to 230 km/h, and reduced the journey time to less than two hours. This is the first high-speed train line in Europe, as its operations started in 1977.

In 2009 a new high-speed line linking Milan and Turin, operating at 300 km/h, opened to passenger traffic, reducing the journey time from two hours to one hour. In the same year, the Milan-Bologna line was open, reducing the journey time to 55 minutes. Also the Bologna-Florence high-speed line was upgraded to 300 km/h for a journey time of 35 minutes.

Since then, it is possible to travel from Turin to Salerno (ca. 950 km) in less than 5 hours. More than 100 trains per day are operated.[6]

The main public operator of high-speed trains (alta velocità AV, formerly Eurostar Italia) is Trenitalia, part of FSI. Trains are divided into three categories: Frecciarossa ("Red arrow") trains operate at a maximum of 300 km/h on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento (Silver arrow) trains operate at a maximum of 250 km/h on both high-speed and mainline tracks; Frecciabianca (White arrow) trains operate at a maximum of 200 km/h on mainline tracks only.

Since 2012, a new and Italy's first private train operator, NTV (branded as Italo), run high-speed services in competition with Trenitalia. Even nowadays, Italy is the only county in Europe with a private high-speed train operator.

Construction of the Milan-Venice high-speed line has begun in 2013 and in 2016 the Milan-Treviglio section has been opened to passenger traffic; the Milan-Genoa high-speed line (Terzo Valico dei Giovi) is also under construction.

Today it is possible to travel from Rome to Milan in less than 3 hours (2h 55') with the Frecciarossa 1000, the new high-speed train. To cover this route, there's a train every 30 minutes.

Intercity trains

With the introduction of high-speed trains, intercity trains are limited to few services per day on mainline and regional tracks.

The daytime services (Intercity IC), while not freuquent and limited to one or two trains per route, are essential in providing access to cities and towns off the railway's mainline network. The main routes are Trieste to Rome (stopping at Venice, Bologna, Prato, Florence and Arezzo), Milan to Rome (stopping at Genoa, La Spezia, Pisa and Livorno / stopping at Parma, Modena, Bologna, Prato, Florence and Arezzo), Bologna to Lecce (stopping at Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari and Brindisi) and Rome to Reggio di Calabria (stopping at Latina and Naples). In addition, the Intercity trains provide a more economical means of long-distance rail travel within Italy.

The night trains (Intercity Notte ICN) have sleeper compartments and washrooms, but no showers on board. Main routes are Rome to Bolzano/Bozen (calling at Florence, Bologna, Verona, Rovereto and Trento), Milan to Lecce (calling at Bologna, Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari and Brindisi), Turin to Lecce (calling at Alessandria, Voghera, Piacenza, Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Pescara, Bari and Brindisi) and Reggio di Calabria to Turin (calling Naples, Rome, Livorno, La Spezia and Genova). Most portions of these ICN services run during the night; since most services take 10 to 15 hours to complete a one-way journey, their day-time portion provide extra train connections to complement with the Intercity services.

There are a total of 86 intercity trains running within Italy per day.

Regional trains

Regional train agencies exist: their train schedules are largely connected to and shown on Trenitalia, and tickets for such train services can be purchased through Trenitalia's national network. Other regional agencies have separate ticket systems which are not mutually exchangeable with that of Trenitalia. These "regional" tickets could be purchased at local newsagents or tobacco stores instead.

Trentino-Alto Adige / Trentino-Südtirol: Südtirol Bahn (South Tyrol Railway) runs regional services on Ala/Ahl-am-Etsch to Bolzano/Bozen (calling at Rovereto/Rofreit, Trento/Trient and Mezzocorona/Kronmetz), Bolzano/Bozen to Merano/Meran, Bressanone/Brixen to San Candido/Innichen, and a direct "Tirol regional express REX" service between Bolzano/Bozen in Italy and Innsbruck in Austria.

Lombardy: Trenord runs the Malpensa Express airport train, many Milan's suburban lines and most regional train services in Lombardy. Trenord also co-operates with DB and ÖBB on the EuroCity Verona-Munich service, and with SBB CFF FFS (joint-venture TiLo) on the regional Milan-Bellinzona service.

Rail links with adjacent countries

The Marseille-Vintimille railway line in Ventimiglia, near the French border

Italy has 11 rail border crossings over the Alpine mountains with her neighbouring countries: six are designated as mainline tracks and two are metre-gauge tracks. The six mainline border crossings are: two with France (one for Nice and Marseille; the other for Lyon and Dijon), two with Switzerland (one for Brig, Bern and Geneva; the other for Chiasso, Lugano, Lucerne and Zürich), and two with Austria (one for Innsbruck; the other for Villach, Graz and Vienna). The two metre-gauge track crossings are located at the border town of Tirano (enters Switzerland's Canton Graubünden/Grisons) and Domodossola (enters Switzerland's Locarno).

There is a railway line connecting Italy's northeastern port of Trieste to Slovenia, but no passenger or freight services operate on this track. Consequently, there is no direct connections between Trieste and Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, despite the proximity of both cities.

Roads

Autostrade network in Italy

Italian motorways (Autostrade) are identified by green signs

A motorway in Italy

Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1000 people in 2010.[10][11] Italy has a total of 487,700 km of paved roads, of which 6,758 km are motorways with a general speed limit of 130 km/h (81 mph), which since 2009 was provisioned for extension up to 150 km/h (93 mph)[12]. The speed limit in towns is usually 50 km/h (31 mph) and less commonly 30 km/h (19 mph).

Waterways

Italy has 2,400 km (1,491 mi) of navigable waterways for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value.[13]

In the northern regions of Lombardy and Venetia, commuter ferry boats operate on Lake Garda and Lake Como to connect towns and villages at both sides of the lakes. The waterways in Venice, including the Grand Canal, serve as the vital transportation network for local residents and tourists. Frequent shuttle ferries (vaporetta) connect different points on the main island of Venice and other outlying islands of the lagoon. In addition, there are direct shuttle boats between Venice and the Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Airports

The Malpensa International Airport, the busiest airport in Italy by cargo traffic

Italy is the fifth in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011.[18] Most of passengers in Italy are on international flights (57%). A big share of domestic flights connect the major islands (Sardinia and Sicily) to the mainland.[18] Domestic flights between major Italian cities as Rome and Milan still play a relevant role but are declining since the opening of the Italian high-speed rail network in recent years.

Italy has a total as of 130 airports in 2012, of which 99 have paved runways:[13]

Bus

There are long-distance intercity buses run by local companies, but the services are infrequent during the week and usually provide a secondary link to railway services.

Italy does not have a nationwide coach operator.[20] However, in 2015, the British company Megabus (Europe) launched daily intercity bus services on several domestic routes

This makes a daily total of 12 services in each direction between Rome and Bologna.

Flixbus, a company founded in the course of the opening of the German intercity bus market also serves routes in Italy both domestic and international.

Airport shuttle

Airport shuttle buses, however, are highly developed and convenient for rail travellers. Most airports in Italy are not connected to the railway network, except for Rome Fiumicino Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport and Turin Caselle Airport. In Bologna, a light-rail track is under construction to connect Bologna Airport to the main railway station.

External links

The Autostrade (Italian: [autoˈstraːde]; singular autostrada [autoˈstraːda]) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about 6,758 kilometres (4,199 mi). In North and Central Italy, the Autostrade mainly consists of tollways managed by Atlantia S.p.A. (formerly Autostrade S.p.A.), a holding company controlled by the Benetton family. Other operators include ASTM, ATP, and Autostrade Lombarde in the north-west; Autostrada del Brennero, A4 Holding, Concessioni Autostradali Venete, and Autovie Venete in the north-east; Strada dei Parchi, SALT, SAT, and Autocisa in the center; and CAS in the south all under the supervision of the state-owned ANAS.

The Bologna metropolitan railway service (Italian: servizio ferroviario metropolitano di Bologna, acronym: SFMBO) is a commuter railway service around the Italian city of Bologna. It is currently under construction.

Lambretta is the brand name of a line of motor scooters initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti.

The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river which flows through the area, and where the factory was located. Lambretta was the name of a mythical water-sprite associated with the river which runs adjacent to the former production site.In 1972, the Indian government bought the machinery of the Milanese factory, creating Scooters India Limited (SIL) in order to produce the Lambro three-wheeler under the name Vikram for the domestic market. Lambretta scooters were also manufactured under licence by Fenwick in France, NSU in Germany, Serveta in Spain, API in India, Yulon in Taiwan, Pasco in Brazil, Auteco in Colombia and Siambretta in Argentina.

Innocenti S.A. (also known as Lambretta Consortium) based in Lugano, Switzerland is the owner of the international trademark Lambretta and has licensed the brand throughout the world.

The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of 24,227 km (15,054 mi) of which active lines are 16,723 km. The network has recently grown with the construction of the new high-speed rail network.

Italy is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Italy is 83.

Thello is an open-access train operator running international services between France and Italy. Founded in 2011, the company is owned by the Italian state owned railway company Trenitalia.Initially set up as a joint venture between Trenitalia and Transdev, the latter sold 33% holding in Thello to their Italian partner in 2016 giving Trenitalia full control.There is also a restaurant car operated by LSG Sky Chefs, where it is possible to have dinner and breakfast on board.

The Florence tramway network (Italian: Rete tranviaria di Firenze) is an important part of the public transport network of Florence, Italy. It consists of two operational light rail lines.

Florence, like many other Italian cities, closed down its old tramway network at the end of the 1950s, but has come back to trams in recent years to find a solution to the rising car traffic in the city. The first line in the present network was opened in 2010 to link the city center with the neighboring comune of Scandicci; the second line opened on February 11, 2019, linking the city center with Florence Airport.

The current network operator is GEST (Gestione Servizio tramviario), a public company owned by ATAF (49%) and RATPdev (51%), subsidiary of the French RATP.

The Venice Tramway (Italian: Tranvia di Venezia) is a rubber-tired tramway (or guided bus) system forming part of the public transport system in Venice, Favaro Veneto, Mestre and Marghera, three boroughs of the city and comune of Venice, northeast Italy.

Since 2015, the tramway is connected to Piazzale Roma (the main bus station) in Venice.

The Milan tramway network (Italian: Rete tranviaria di Milano) is an important part of the public transport network of Milan, Italy.

In operation since 1881, the network is now 181.8 kilometers (113.0 mi) long. It has the unusual track gauge of 1,445 mm (4 ft 8 7⁄8 in) (Italian gauge), and comprises 17 urban lines and one interurban line. As opposed to Milan's Metro system, where no more than two lines ever cross each other at any of the interchange stations, the Milan tram system is substantially centralized, with around half of the tram lines passing by, or terminating by the side or nearby, the Piazza del Duomo at the center of Milan.

The Ancona trolleybus system (Italian: Rete filoviaria di Ancona) forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Ancona, in the Marche region, central Italy. In operation since 1949, the system presently comprises only one urban route.

The Rome trolleybus system (Italian: Rete filoviaria di Roma) forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Rome, Italy. In operation since 2005, the current system comprises a single route, with both a normal and an express service.

From 1937 to 1972, Rome was served by a much more extensive trolleybus system, which was then the largest in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.

The Turin metropolitan railway service (Italian: Servizio Ferroviario Metropolitano) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of Turin, Italy. The system comprises 8 lines operated by Gruppo Torinese Trasporti and Trenitalia, serving 93 stations.

The core of the system, serving most sfm lines, is the passante ferroviario, an underground tunnel running 8 km through the city from north to south, at a maximum depth of 18 meters. The tunnel permits passengers to travel from Torino Stura station to Torino Lingotto station in 15 minutes.

This page is based on a Wikipedia article written by authors
(here).
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.